


It Turns Within Me

by wanderer765



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Love, Multi, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 11:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12480952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderer765/pseuds/wanderer765





	It Turns Within Me

The leaves have turned their burnt oranges and yellows, their bright greens now muted and mixed with speckled browns and golds. 

 

Iris sits on the back porch of the Allen family cabin, wrapped in a heavy wool blanket, a sleeping child in her arms. 

 

A cool breeze sweeps past making confetti of the leaves, blowing the soft light brown curls of her sons locks against her chin, tickling the skin there. 

 

He quietly stirs in her arms. 

 

Despite the early hour and the heaviness of her lids, it is her favorite time of day. If you awoke from a long slumber you wouldn’t know if the day was turning to night or the night turning to day. The sky in all it’s blues and pinks and purples plays tricks on your mind. 

 

Only as the sun makes its rise through the trees is the spell broken and you know which way you’re headed. 

 

The day is just beginning. 

 

“Mama?”

 

His eyes are closed and a thin layer of sweat coats his young face despite the cool weather. 

 

His brows furrow and she holds him tighter, wishes the demons that haunt his sleep away. 

 

“Shh it’s ok baby, mommy’s got you.”

 

Night terrors. 

 

Something their son had inherited from Barry. They’d protected them as much as they could from the darkness that inevitable followed them, but Donovan caught glance of his father fighting a particularly scary meta through Central City on the news one night at Paw Paws and had been haunted ever since. 

 

Iris was the only thing that calmed him, much like his father when his dreams took him to unwelcome places. 

 

She rocks him back and forth, quietly humming, and his face softens as he drifts back into sleep.

 

The screen door creaks open behind her followed by the sound of footsteps. 

 

“Babe?” a tired Barry whispers. 

 

She looks up at him and then down, Barry’s eyes following her to what lays in her arms. 

 

“Again?”

 

She nods. 

 

Barry bends down and softly runs his hand over his son’s head. 

 

“I was hoping the calmness here would give him some reprieve.”

 

Iris sighs. 

 

“He’s so much like you were. So strong and brave in the light of day, but let’s his mind wander at night. I don’t know what else to do but hold him and ground him.”

 

“Well if he’s as much like me as you say, then you’re helping him more than you think you are. He’ll be ok, it’ll just take a little time. 

 

Do you want me to try carrying him inside and putting him back to bed for a bit?”

 

She shakes her head no. 

 

“No it’s ok, I don’t want to leave him just yet. Besides, I love watching the sunrise here.”

 

Barry leans over and leaves a kiss on Donovan’s forehead and then a light kiss on Iris’ lips. 

 

“Do you need anything before I go back in? Another blanket? Some coffee?”

 

She smiles at him. 

 

“I’m good babe, thanks. But would you do me a favor and check on our little girl before you fall back asleep?”

 

“Of course.”

 

She settles back in to the scenery before her. The half bare trees and the falling foliage, the loons that fly low and skim the glassy lake water down the path. 

 

There is an unspoken safety here, like Henry and Nora have their arms wrapped around the woods surrounding the cabin, keeping the outside world and all its troubles at bay. 

 

It makes her sad that the darkness was able to break in and steal some of the light. Shake the happy family out of the bubble they live in while staying here.  

 

But she won’t let the reason she’s awake at this hour take away from the real moment. 

 

She closes her eyes and lets the sounds lull her into rest. The love she shares with Barry a warm and tangible being that holds onto her tightly beneath the blanket that covers them. 

 

Like this place she’s come to cherish so much, she’ll always be there to hold and keep safe the ones she loves most. 


End file.
